One thing I can tell you is that the days of the loudest master are kinda over. (Thank God!) All the streaming platforms use “loudness normalization.” There’s a YouTube channel that’s really good. There was also a 30 minute lecture on Sonic Scoop by Alan Silverman that explains a lot.
John Siket
Also want to check this out: https://whylogicprorules.com/mastering-logic-pro-x/
Loudness Units: Measurement of Loudness, as opposed to “level”.
Null Test: Copy a track to another track, reverse polarity, and they should completely cancel each other out.
Limiter is the essential tool for Loudness/Level.
Three “decent” limiters: Xenon, FabFilter, DMG
“The limiter’s little secret.”
Compressors, although we think of them as making stuff louder, they don’t, they make stuff smaller.
Alan Silverman
Current streaming and broadcast levels as LUFS:
Spotify: -14
Apple Music: -16
YouTube: -13
iTunes: -16
-24LUFS – This is your target if you’re mixing for television (-23LKFS in the rest of the world). Out of all the standards, this one is the most serious in that a television network can get its broadcast license revoked for a violation. Send in a program with a higher level, and it will be kicked back for a revision.
-16LUFS for gaming. This isn’t a hard and fast rule, but it’s what the gaming development community has settled on. Nothing serious will happen if you violate this level (you won’t lose your game developers license) so it’s okay if it’s a little off.
-16LUFS for podcasts. Since Apple iTunes has been the principle delivery system for podcasts since the beginning, this is the level it settled on and the rest of the industry followed. It’s usually not a big deal if it’s off a little.
Siket recommends these tutorials:
23/06/2020